Dura Works, Dura Street, Dundee

Dura Works is a complex of buildings dating from 1834 to 1857, originally constructed as a two-storey and attic, L-shaped flax and jute mill built of rubble and featuring an iron frame. The oldest section faces Dens Road, and was followed by a 14-bay mill on Cowan Street. These two mills are linked by a six-bay extension to the Cowan Street mill, completed between 1851 and 1857.

The Dens Road section is a two-storey and raised attic, 12-bay mill. The western elevation features two tripartite sash and case windows, indicating the position of a beam engine house towards the northern end of the mill. An original boiler house was located in the three bays to the north (a later boiler house now excluded from the listing). The ground floor has two widely spaced windows, while the second floor is blank, and was raised in the later 19th century. On the eastern elevation, a ground floor arcade is present to the north of the boiler house, and a projecting stone stair is located near the engine house. The upper walls are supported by stout flanged cast-iron columns with massive cruciform brackets, and large cast-iron beams were added in the 1860s to provide access from preparing sheds. Later additions include a lift and WC block at the north end. The fenestration on the north elevation forms an inverted triangle: a door at ground level, two windows to the boiler house, three closely spaced windows on the first floor, and three more widely spaced windows on the second floor. A small oculus and flat-topped finial top the north gable. The south gable features a regular three-storey, three-bay design with a small oculus and flat-topped finial.

The Cowan Street section is a long, two-storey range with an original attic, constructed in three phases. It's a regular 14-bay mill with a small engine room featuring a round-headed window at the western end. A complex, six-bay link connects it to the Dura Street mill, partially recessed and corbelled, with two windows featuring cast-iron mullions on the first floor. The north elevation incorporates stout flanged cast-iron columns inserted in the 1870s. The first floor is similar to the south elevation, but includes a small, later brick addition with a hipped roof over a loading bay, which originally formed a courtyard. The eastern elevation has two bays on the ground floor, with a later loading door. A single window is combined with a hoist door on the first floor, and the gable features a cornice, oculus, and flat-topped finial. The windows on the first floor of the Cowan Street mill are 12-pane sash and case, the remaining windows being later 19th-century 10-pane top-hoppers.

The interior of the ground and first floors is fireproof. Flanged cast-iron columns support cast-iron beams (with eyelets on the first floor of the Dens Road block), brick arches, and wrought iron ties. The Dens Road mill has steel reinforcements and a single-span timber roof from the later 19th century. Heavy cast-iron columns, beams, and massive brackets support the north and east walls at ground floor level. The Cowan Street mill retains its original plastered timber roof with wrought-iron ties, continuous skylights to the north, and single skylights to the south. The engine house features a concrete floor, and a fine spiral stair has an ashlar newel.